Chris Wilder Provides Honest Verdict As Sheffield United Held to Frustrating Draw
Sheffield United were forced to settle for a 1-1 draw against 10-man Derby County at Bramall Lane on Saturday afternoon, despite dominating the second half and creating enough opportunities to claim all three points.
The Blades struggled to find their rhythm during the opening 45 minutes and were punished when Bobby Clark capitalised on a rebound to put the visitors ahead shortly before half-time.
However, the complexion of the contest changed significantly in the 66th minute when Derby defender Dion Sanderson was shown a red card for bringing down Femi Seriki as United attempted to launch a counter-attack.
Chris Wilder’s side subsequently piled on the pressure and eventually found an equaliser through Patrick Bamford, but some outstanding goalkeeping from Jacob Widell Zetterstrom prevented the hosts from completing the turnaround.
United made the brighter start, with Ben Brereton Diaz unable to connect cleanly with Tahith Chong’s deep cross at the back post before Derby gradually grew into the contest.
The visitors began putting the home defence under increasing pressure, winning a succession of corners and forcing Michael Cooper into action as the first half progressed.
The Blades were unable to build any sustained attacking momentum, with Wilder’s side struggling to impose themselves on a Derby team that arrived at Bramall Lane looking to take advantage of their opponents’ inconsistent start to the campaign.
The visitors eventually made their pressure count in the 38th minute.
Cooper had already been required to turn an effort behind, but Derby continued to threaten and found the breakthrough through Clark. Sammie Szmodics played a pass that released Hedges, whose attempt struck the post after Cooper had been unable to prevent the initial effort from finding its way towards goal. Clark reacted quickest to the rebound and finished to give Derby the lead.
The Blades returned for the second half with greater urgency, but the decisive turning point arrived in the 66th minute. Sanderson was shown a second yellow card after bringing down Seriki as the United defender attempted to initiate a counter-attack, leaving Derby to navigate the remainder of the contest with ten men.
Romelle Donovan tested Zetterstrom with a powerful effort from distance as the Blades increased the pressure, with Derby increasingly forced to defend their advantage. United continued to threaten from set-pieces, and their persistence finally paid off following a series of corners.
Donovan delivered a dangerous ball into the penalty area, where Bamford got the decisive touch to redirect it beyond Zetterstrom and restore parity. However, the goal was followed by an unfortunate setback for United, as Bamford was unable to continue and was forced off through injury shortly afterwards.
Chong came agonisingly close to connecting with Campbell’s low cross, while Zetterstrom produced another important save to keep out Peck’s effort in difficult conditions.
Seven minutes of additional time offered the Blades further opportunities to complete the turnaround, and they came desperately close to finding a decisive breakthrough.
Campbell appeared to have provided the moment United had been searching for when he struck on the turn, but Zetterstrom produced an outstanding save to preserve Derby’s hopes of leaving Bramall Lane with a point.
Chris Wilder Delivers Honest Verdict on Sheffield United Performance
Wilder did not hide his frustration after the final whistle, admitting to SUTV that United should have won the contest given the opportunities they created after the break.
“We should have won that game from the position that we were in, especially with the second-half performance,” Wilder said. “Their goalkeeper made some outstanding saves. I’m more disappointed about the first-half performance because that’s a big opportunity, we talked about the situation that the opposition were in.”
Wilder had been encouraged by United’s performances and results following the international break, but felt his players had failed to carry that momentum into Saturday’s encounter.
“I just wasn’t happy regarding the approach to the game,” he added. “The players thought that the game would come to them, and I reminded them, as you can imagine, at half-time. “We have to do so much more. We have to take the initiative at home. We’ve got a crowd that expects us to go after teams, and we didn’t.
“We were passive, we didn’t get down the line of the ball. We didn’t close them down. The game was there from the off. We just thought the game would come to us.”
Wilder even revealed that a supporter who criticised him as he left the pitch at half-time had been justified in doing so. “By the way, the fella that had a pop at me as I was coming off was right to have a pop at me. And I agreed with him,” he said.
“Obviously they found that moment and then that got us going after half-time, and it basically should have been a home win, but it isn’t, and that’s the disappointing thing from me.”
Sheffield United are next in action at Bramall Lane against Wrexham next Friday evening.
